Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Oct 16: The state government Thursday wrote to the Centre to take required steps for supply of additional pulses to the Orissa market to meet demand.
The missive comes in the backdrop of the skyrocketing prices of pulses, which show no sign of reducing.
“The state government has requested the Centre to expedite the process for supply of additional pulses through MMTC Ltd, which is a government of India enterprise,” said food supplies and consumer welfare minister Sanjay Das Burma.
The corporation has been helping the Center in importing pulses from abroad.
The minister also said that the price of pulses is likely to come down by mid-November.
The deficient monsoon and unseasonal rain has resulted in 25 per cent shortfall in production of pulses across the state, the minister said. The Centre has also been requested to publish the correct wholesale and retail prices of the dal imported from outside.
The issue is turning bitter for consumers with each passing day as the price of arhar dal in the state has risen from Rs 110 a kilo in July to Rs 180 kilo at present.
Other varieties of pulses are being sold at retail rates of between `120 and `130 a kilo.
No mechanism has been developed in the state to regulate the price of pulses despite this shooting up to more than twice that of the previous year.
The minister said that the district administrations have been asked to keep an eye on the market situation and crack down on hoarders and black marketers who are promoting unscrupulous trade.
